Qui C’est? Enter guess-the-student contest on page two for chance to win English homework pass!
SAVVY STUDENT TIP #212: It’s OK if you didn’t get much sleep; there’s always a place on the bus. Many students complain of not having enough sleep, so Alfredo Dudesman is planning to supply the buses with ample pillows.
Vol. 1, Issue 1
The Middle-School Newspaper of King’s Academy
Playing video games: smart idea or time waster for teenagers?
Girl barrels Niagara Falls on purpose— true-life story By Aman Serhan
By Yazan Alrayyes Studies have shown that some video games are actually good. They enhance your ability to focus and broadens your mind. But are video games actually just a waste of time and money? Many people think they’ll always play video games no matter old how they get while others would say video games are just a waste of time. So how would people from different ages see video games? “They’re a wonderful way of showing ideas,” Hashim Khalayleh, a junior at King’s, explains. “They affect the way you think.” As he loves video games for this reason, his younger brother might love them for another reason. “They are a fun thing to do,” Sa’ad Khalayleh, his eighth-grade brother says referring to video games. But for a student his age. He also started thinking about the consequences. “If you played them 24-seven they’re a waste of time.” Video games aren’t only different in the students’ opinion but also in adults’ perspectives. “They’re good and bad in the same time,” Ms. Alia Wakileh says. As most adults see video games in a similar perspective, they all feel that “It’s fine from now to then,” as Ms. Alia says, preferring that they would do other activities like sports and activities with friends which enhances their social abilities. Some authors say people playing video games have shown more focus and alert. “The best that can be said of them is that they may help promote eye-hand coordination in children. The worst that can be said is that they sanction, and even promote aggression and violent responses to conflict,” states Steven Johnson in his bestselling book Everything Bad Is Good for You. People never have the same opinion and video games are just a small example. Video games can be fun and entertaining, reading and exercising and other activities have much greater effect, you communicate and socialize and have fun while you expand your mind. “It trains your brain in a way that makes you smarter,” says King’s headmaster Dr. John Austin, referring to reading.
20 October 2016
Eighth graders Ali Abughosh and Zuhair Khouri read stories during English class last Thursday. (Photo by Ms. Abeer Nammari)
Open cubbies a place to put stuff and a symbol of trust By Abdulhadi Al Bustanji Adding its middle school, King’s Academy used open, unlocked cubbies. But some students and teachers complain that their belongings are not safe, while others do not think they need to be under lock and key. After many investigations and interviewing, the main problem has been revealed: many students are anxious because a lot of them had their belongings stolen at their old school. “The cubby system is not really secure,” said Kareem Madanat. “If someone had the motives to steal, then the cubbies won’t be safe because it is exposed. I got my watch stolen in my old school. It would be more secure if they had locks.”
[…] the students are honest and won’t steal. Everything I have they have. – Sa’ad Khalayleh Ms. Reem also assures that the school has a follow-through plan if anything gets stolen or lost, even if she doubts that will happen. “We are not going to tolerate anyone playing with other people’s things,” said Ms. Reem. The cubbies do not have locks because they are open, and that scares some students because they say they want to keep their belongings safe.
However, other students say that the cubbies do not need locks because they believe King’s Academy is a safe and trusting place.
Even though the school will add locks to drawers, many students are scared of what will happen until they add the locks.
They also claim that having to open and lock their cubbies wastes time.
“I do not trust everyone,” said seventh grader Rashid Zou’bi.
Although Middle School Dean Ms. Reem does not believe that the cubbies need locks, she is going to add locks on the drawers for valuable belongings, such as phones, money or jewelry. She believes that King’s is a safe enough place for cubbies without locks. “It is up to us as a community to trust each other,” said Ms. Reem.
A lot of students and teachers that have been interviewed think King’s is a safe place because of the people around them, which is why they think that they do not need locks. Sa’ad Khalayleh said, “I do not think we need locks because I think the students are honest and won’t steal. Everything I have they have.” As of the print of this edition on 20 October, no items are known to have been stolen from cubbies.
Born in 1883, Annie Edson Taylor would become the first person ever to go over Niagara Falls in an oak barrel. Annie traveled from place to place looking for work. She was a teacher and a widow, since her husband died seven years after their marriage. She was poor and was depressed because of that. Hoping to gain wealth and fame, Annie decided she would be the first to successfully dive over Niagara Falls in an oak barrel—at least she hoped she would. Two days before Annie’s dive, a domestic cat was sent over the falls in Annie’s barrel to test whether the barrel would break our not. Seventeen minutes later, the barrel was found and the cat had a bleeding head and later stood with Annie in photos. On October 24, 1901, Annie’s birthday, she was ready to step in that oak barrel and make herself comfortable for the 167-foot dive into Niagara Falls. After pumping the barrel with air and plugging the hole with a cork, Annie’s friends pushed her barrel into the falls. With the currents Annie’s barrel was carried over to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and in less than twenty minutes, Annie got to the very bottom. It was some time before the barrel was opened, but when it did, Annie was alive and fairly uninjured, except for a small gash on the head. And that gash wasn’t from the fall: she was actually cut when she got out of the barrel. I find this story interesting because I went to the Canadian side of the falls twice in my life. I even rode the Maid of the Mist boat cruise that rides around the base of the falls. Looking at the mist falling and coming back up, I used to think that a person would die in few seconds when riding them, but I was wrong. Annie made it, along with some other daredevils, and there’s even this kid who was pulled over the falls after a boating accident! However, not everyone who tried this dive succeeded. According to The Biography.com website, Annie offered a piece of advice for other daredevils: "Don't try it." But nobody listened. Lots of copy-cat daredevils tried doing that stunt after she did, but only ten survived. They probably wished they hadn’t because diving over the falls is actually illegal. Survivors face charges and solid fines on either the Canadian or American side of the falls. According to the Atlas Obscura website, Annie’s first words out of the barrel were, “I prayed every second I was in the barrel except for a few seconds after the fall when I went unconscious." Although Annie became famous after that stunt, she did not earn a fortune the way she hoped she would. She earned some money talking about her experience, but it was not enough to build much wealth. She performed the stunt when she was 63 and died when she was 83. I think, without realizing it, Annie taught us a very important moral: take calculated risks, but not crazy ones.because then you will be risking your life.
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20 October 2016
MS furniture made for comfort, deep concentration By Yazan Alrayyes King’s middle school was designed to make the next upper schoolers deep learners, but does the furniture help? With plenty of different chairs, tables and configurations in each class, the middle school classes were designed to teach in a different way to support the deep learning of the middle school. “The furniture is amazing, fun, colorful and brand new,” Assistant to the Headmaster Abeer Nammari said. The furniture in the middle school isn’t typical for schools: red chairs on the floor, wheel chairs, Harkness tables and a Chinese scroll. The faculty searched for furniture that would accommodate the middle school. While some people may prefer some furniture more than others, Dr. John Austin says, “Comfort is a matter matter of subjective opinion.” Some students may think some pieces of furniture are fun in a distractive way from the lesson—against the process of deep learning.
Comfort is a matter matter of subjective opinion. –Dr. John “No one pays attention to the class if they keep playing with the chairs,” eighthgrader Sa’ad Khalayleh said. While everyone would have different opinions about the furniture, what we know for sure is that it took them a whole year to change the administration building to the middle school building. King’s was originally designed according to the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II, who attended Deerfield Academy in the United States, yet the furniture is surely not from there. At King’s the furniture reflects some of our teachers’ different cultures, and diversity is the great thing about King’s, according to Ms. Abeer. “The diversity makes us special, living in a community with different cultures will enrich our life and give us different perspectives about each others,” Ms. Abeer said.
READER’S CORNER By Rakan Qawas NOTE: This unit on the newspaper is my outlet to express my opinion on things, as newspapers are all fact no opinion. Here I am free to talk about one of my passions, books. They are a movie on paper, a film reel just waiting for you to open the first page, the play button, allowing you to become the characters, feel their pain and happiness. Hex Hall: “From the left I heard the sharp rattle of gunfire, and I instinctively ducked as a werewolf collapsed, riddled with silver bullets fired by an old woman in, of all things, a pink housecoat.” Hex Hall is the ridiculously witty and profane story of Sophie Mercer, a girl who discovered she was a witch, but it only led her down a dark path and an even darker discovery… For readers looking for a good laugh. The Kill Order: Before Wicked…before Thomas and Teresa, this prequel to The Maze Runner, this book tells the story of a young boy named Mark who somehow survives the sun flares, but little did he know that was only the least of his worries… Recommended for readers who have read the maze runner and want a backstory, but people who haven’t can read it, as well
Upcoming Cinema Movies: Ouija: Origin of Evil: October 20 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: November 11 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: November 17 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: December 14 Assassin's Creed: December 21 Upcoming Movies on Netflix: • • • • •
Jadotville Lego Bionicle: The Journey To One Mascots The True Memoirs Of An International Assassin War Machine
Qui C’est? Who is it? Cut out along the dotted line and write your name and who you think this person is. Put the paper in the box outside of Mr. Eric’s room and we will draw a winner; the prize will be an English homework pass. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Student with glasses Is in a group of three Is in PE Laughs for no reason Last name ends with an S
___________(name) I think the student is __________(name of student)